Melanoma and Plastic Surgery

OK, so my practice isn’t Kmart, but Melanoma is seemingly on “Blue Light Special” and these recent cases are all on the right shoulder. I am sure somebody will say it has something to do with the stars. I saw two patients today and another scheduled for next week. Melanoma patients are not infrequently sent to plastic surgeons for reconstruction. The “removal” operations for melanoma take large portions of healthy tissue around the cancer to help deter recurrence. This works usually, but leaves large holes that we are asked to help fill. This is not cosmetic surgery folks….

Melanoma is the rarest of the skin cancers, but the only skin cancer that has a reasonable possibility of killing you. These things can be nasty like the alien in one of those Sigourney Weaver movies. It is summer, so don’t just buy that sun screen….wear it! Skin cancers are a consequence of lifetime sun exposure and melanoma is thought to come especially from pre-pubescent sun exposure. So lather up the kids!

The melanoma picture you see pictured above is a past case from a few years ago. See the irregular border? That’s a sign of a mole possibly going toward the dark side…..

Comments

Geeze yeah… my sister’s already beaten cancer once, and I have trouble getting her to wear sunblock. I’m like, dude, it’s not so difficult. Just slather it on. 15 yr olds listen to no one. Even after I showed her the nasty melanoma patch removed from my FIL’s neck. Just say YES to sunscreen!

I’m a huge advocate of sunscreen so I’m glad to see a PS pushing it. I became a believer in it when at a wedding I noticed that my best friend’s mother looked like an old leather bag when she was only in her early 40’s. Since then I’ve worn it every day.

Hey Doc,Sorry about the off-topic comment that is about to come I just got this weird email from this girl…who is trying to get me to promote her new site…pretty weird…and ‘different’.Check it out…MyFreeImplants.comTheir tagline is: Cosmetic Surgeries at NO COST!!love,elisa